Locking mechanism for vehicle doors



April 15, 1952 J. J. BLACK 2,592,647

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR VEHICLE DOORS Filed June 8. 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET l lkr' 1 IF 1] i V \s "/////////////M/// April 15, 1952 J. .1. BLACK 2,592,647

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR VEHICLE DOORS Filed June 8, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR- B g M226 Patented Apr. 15, 1952 iipdra'tion of' D'e'lawai-e 1 "Thisiiivehtidnrelaltes to 'tiagflers'hr"tiiieks' firid it is directedbeitiulariy he the eenstruetieh-er jt e eerqoors oftiie'vehi'cle beds, mathe ocks hyjwhie the gears 'helgiin eeles'ea 15 Theses p'i'ojec- "of their ei'tnsi h 'Were *interferences"preve ting close positioning of the tiailrhody to "a dock or platform. ereever, such structures elweygheve been unsightly 'in a pearance; 'acciiuiiiiilited "dirt "end otherwise impaired the pieesihg'e peerenee "of an otherwise gre erurbed'y de'sih.

In "ao'cdrdan'ce 'with the'pre's'eiit iiiilefition "the housed between the Walls iiiit 'bf sight ahjdbl'i't 'of the eccentric studs 'rotatahly eumaued in the door frlrne. These t'jouriisls are enclosed, end therefore, 'cohtihue to operate free1y"'iihder"the adi/eiseconditions of highwsly'service The'look red at "a o'ehtial portionthereof, "or

fat a height-which is cohv'ehi'eht t'oopera'te, passes *throughere'ces's which'isiormed in the door panel from the outward face. This recess "eontaLi'ns a handle forrotating the lock rod "teammate the cam locks at it's ends and also contains a le'tc h forcoopeiati'rig with the handle to hold it in its locked positien, Thus, the handle and the Iat'ch "are men with the 'r'eerssrrahe er the 1601 'ii'aii'el 31nd"offerhobiojectiohs whiehmte'rfere with vehicle" parking. 7 e

A preferred embodiment of the ihvhtion' is "shown in the a'ccofhperiyih'g' drawings which are described in detail in there'mainder or the speciiicaftioh.

In'the drawings: 7 U

Figure 1 "represents an end view "of a vehicle body with-'2, door locking structure "constituting "a preferred "e'rnhodiiii'eiit o'f the intr'eiition-efiixedw therein in locked position,

'Figiife 4 is a View "'i-lei to Figiire-e' showing the mechanism in 'pziftially 'epenes position.

"Figure '5 is'a sectional View 'al'o'ng the line- 5 5, Figure 1, particularlyillustrating thef oohstri1c- "tio'n er the lo'ckingtod and its es'sociated eleen t Figure'fi is e sections View along the Iirie E B, Figure 5. v

Figure 7 15's secti'o'hal view elongfthe-line l- I, Fi 7 Fiiuie 8 is wsectionai viw along the The 8'="-8, "Figure-3.

Iii the drawings the doors-sire indicated 'gem ferally at Ill-'40 and ere-mounted hyiheens' of hinges II "on the frame I! at the re'erehd of the vehicle body. As shown, the doorselie mounted 'toswing on avertiea1 axis and they joinone another centrally of the 'rear opening in the body. 'Dne of the doors for instance the right heind door, is shown as including a lip I3 whioh'oi erlaps the surface ofthe ot er doofwhen theyare 'in "closed position to prbvideasill for eiicludi'ng dirthjnddust from theinterio'r of the body. Ea'oh door'comprises an outer panel M suit'alhlyar- 'rahgedu'pon ainarginai frame, and for 'additi'onal rigidity although not hecessari1y, ea"ch "door*a1so "comprises an inner hahel [5. These majyfbe spaced'from one smother by the thicknessof the m'argihal'frame throughwhich they are joined together.

A look; -rod I6 is interposed between thetvll panels of one of the doors, 'i."e.,'the right -hahd dem se shown, aqjeceht the 11p joint [a and "pzaLraHei thereto. 'Th'eiock rodfiniy he inthe "form of'hfpieeeof pipe for the likeflahd its ehds "receive the shahks I! of'lock member's lB, the shanks I! being faste'ne'dto the lock rod by 'hiearis of pins [9.

Atthe'upperand iewer edges er the door shown '1n 'th'e drawings cup-shaped recesses were pro- Videdj which form the journals forthe lock pieces l8. In this mariner the lock rod is rotaltahly Jou'r'nalledet its opposite ends in'the door'panel.

- Prfe'rahly the needs-me e larger ih diameter than the sh'alnk's' pier the lockingihemb eis and "fitj'elstivelysi ugiyinthe'i ecesses20. H

Eeh heed "I B has bro jbting OiltWs'idlYthi'B- *fibln an eee ntriceny Positioned sfiid 2|. "Each "of these studsis positioned :01; jeiig'agihehtrs- "speetively-ih a 'eem slot 22. The da slotat the bottom Of the "door is located "in the "sill'of thebody opening and the cam slot at the top'of "the door is located in the slipper cross piece of h W O If the door" is hiiiged to "swing "on a; horiiohtal operating lever. V tween bracket 38 and door panel'l5 has an ear 42 bent upwardly (see Figures 3 and 4).

atively rotated 90 and operate with slots located in the vertical stiles of the door opening. 1

It is also to be noted, as shown in Figure 5, that lipS'23 extend marginally beyond the edges of the door to provide dust flanges. similar to the lip l3 where the doors adjoin one another. These lips or flanges are formed by lateral bending of the sheet material forming the edges of the door and by bending the marginal edgewise portions of the outer door panel |4 around the lateral extensions. This construction supports the door panel l4 and also rigidifies the structure of the lips 23 (see Figure 5). At the inward side of the door the metal forming the door edge is turned back upon itself then flanged downwardly to provide a marginal recess within which'the other door panel I5 is located and held in place as by welding. Recess 20 may be formed by swaging the metal'of the door edge or by cutting a suitable opening and fastening a cup thereto.

At a convenient level from the ground the lock rod l6 passes through a recess indicated generally at 24. Thisis formed by cutting an opening in the door panel I4, by bracing the door panel adjacent the opening with the bracket 25 'and by disposing a recess cup 26 within the recess. 'This cup is 'in the form of a dished member having the eccentric studs 2| co-' tional engagement by the thumb of an operator when his hand grasps the handle portion 32 of received within a bore in the web 3| of the lever.

.ment 50 on the latch plunger 35.

This lock has a finger 49 which is rotatable, upon insertion of a key, into a position behind an abut- Upon rotation of the'finger 49 to a vertical position the finger is disposed to clear the latch plunger 35 and it may be moved away from the Web 3| to release the lever. In this manner two separatelocks. or a lock and a seal, may be accomplished.

While the web 3| resides in the path of the plunger '35 when the plunger 35. is in extended position, the cam configurated faces 36 and 31 cooperate with one another as the lever 21 is moved from a wide open to a closed position. This causes the plunger 35 to be driven out of the way against the compression spring 43. After snaps into blocking engagement with the web 3| and prevents the lever 21 from being swung .out-

its marginal edges overlapping the cut-out in the door panel l4 and its back or bottom surface residing adjacent and fastened to the otherdoor panel I5 or the back wall of the support bracket 25. The lateral walls of the recess member 26 are bored to permit the lock rod it to extend therethrough.

Within the recess 24 all of the rod operating and locking mechanism for the doors is mounted. This assembly consists generally of a lever. 21 having'a boss portion 28 thereof bored to'embrace the lock rod and fastened thereto by means one part of a latch, the cooperating part of which is furnished by a plunger indicated generally at 35. The leading face. of the web 3| is chamfered as at 36; a complementary chamfer 31 is provided at the forward edge of the latch plunger 35. Normally, in the locked position of the lever'the latch plunger bears upon a face of the web 3| which is opposite the chamfered surface 35 thereof. Thus, the plunger catches the web and prevents the handle from being swung outwardly. The plunger, however, has a shank portion 34 which is slidable within a U-shaped bracket 38 I which is fastened by means of screws 39 to the exposed face of the recess cup 23. The bracket 38 has a slot 40 cut therein through which the stud 34 projects through the opening 33 of the Plate 4|, which is secured be- This ear forms a seat for one end of a compression spring 43 housed'within a cavity 44 at'the bottom face of the latch plunger 35. The other end of the spring 43 bears upon the end of the cavity 44 and I} ity of the stud 34 is serrated as'at 45 for frlc The lever 21 extends laterwardly until the plunger 35 is retracted manually as shown in Figure/i,

.All the parts of this structure reside withinthe plane of configuration of thedoor. There are no projecting parts which may become bent through improper usage or through accident, and

, no parts to become out of adjustment. 7 Though previous equipmentof this type embodying eccentrically operating studs heretofore has been used, it has been the common experience throughout the industry for the operator who has diificulty in opening a door to hammer on the parts and thereby bend them enough to release the door and permit it to be opened. The present apparatus avoids the inconvenience to the operator of jammed doors and also avoids the repair expense which follows mutilation of jammed equipment.

Having described my invention, I claim H 1. In a locking mechanism for fasteninga door relative to a door frame, the locking mechanism being adapted to cooperate with an angular keeper slot formed within the door frame, said locking mechanism comprising, a rotatable rod having a radially extended operating handle, a locking head constituting a cylinder having flat inner and outer ends, the locking headbeing fixed upon an end, of the rotatable rod and adapted to be rotated thereby, alocking. stud extending from the outer end of thelocking head, the locking stud having an axis parallel with the axis of the rotatable rod and spaced radially therefrom to provide a crank motion upon rotation of the locking head, and a journal member for the locking head, the journal member constituting a bottom flange and a cylindrical side wall, the bottom flange engaging the inner end of the locking head to supportthe locking head .Whereby the rotatable rod'may be installed within a door with the journal member and locking head residing'flush with the edge of the door and with the locking stud extending outwardly in a position to enter the angular keeper slot .of a door frame and provide a locking engagement therewith when the locking head is rotated in a looking' direction. J

2. In a locking mechanism for fastening a door relative to a door frame, the mechanism being adapted to cooperate with a pair of angular keeper slots formed in the door frame, said locklng mechanism comprising, a rotatable tube having a radially extended operating handle, respec tive locking heads on the opposite ends of the rotatable tube, each of said locking heads constituting a cylinder having fiat outer and inner ends, each inner end having a shank telescopically engaging an end of the rotatable tube, pins securing the telescopically engaged shanks to the rotatable tube, a locking stud extending from the outer end of each locking head, each locking stud having an axis parallel with the axis of the rotatable tube and spaced therefrom to provide a crank motion upon rotation of the rotatable tube, and a journal member for each locking head, each journal member having a cylindrical wall surrounding the locking head and rotatably supporting the locking head, each journal them-- her having a bottom flange engaging the inner end of the locking head residing therein, the locking heads and rotatable tube being supported axially by said bottom flanges, whereby the rotatable tube may be installed within a door with the journal members and locking heads residing flush with the upper and lower edges of the door and with the locking studs extending outwardly in positions to enter the angular keeper slots of a door frame and provide a. locking engagement therewith when the locking heads are'rotated in a locking direction.

JAMES J BLACK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,760,173 Schulz May 27, 1930 1,917,159 Schaa! July 4, 1933 1,952,112 Bartsch Mar. 27, 1934 1,964,066 Kuszmaul June 26, 1934 1,989,801 Halinka Feb. 5, 1935 1,993,002 Glaser Mar. 5, 1935 2,030,677 Avels Feb. 11, 1936 2,301,444 Olander 1 Nov. 10, 1942 2,380,302 Geiger July 10, 1945 2,505,945 Dath May 2, 1950 

